November 03, 2013

Tony Romo and Dwayne Harris lead the Cowboys to victory in the final minute

Tony Romo had only 247 yards passing through the first 57:16. It appeared that for the third time in four games, Romo would finish with under 300 yards.

The Cowboys averaged only 283 yards per game in the past three games against defenses ranked 32nd, 32nd and 31st at the time the Cowboys played them.

The Cowboys struggled again most of Sunday's game.

But when they absolutely had to have it, they got it done.

"With our offense, we just haven’t been as consistent as we want to be," Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. "I thought we did a really good job coming out in the second half with that big drive coming down and getting points right away. But at different times in the ball game, whether it was short-yardage, third down or getting behind the chains a little bit with a penalty, we weren’t in quite as good a rhythm as we want to be. I thought our guys did a really, really good job understanding that situation at the end of the ballgame and just doing what we needed to do to go down and get points. I thought Tony was fantastic really recognizing what they were trying to accomplish. He got the ball out of his hand, and everybody around him made positive plays. He made a heck of a play for the touchdown at the end. It was a great drive and as important of a drive as we’ve had all year long."

The Cowboys got the ball back at their own 10, trailing by 3 points, with 2:44 to play.

Romo went 7-for-9 for 90 yards and the game-winning, 7-yard touchdown to Dwayne Harris with 35 seconds left.

"I just picture Michael Jordan over Xavier McDaniel kind of look, where he's just kind of aggressive being, 'Yes!'" Romo said, referring to Game 7 of the 1992 Eastern Conference Finals. "That's the feeling you have. Without swearing, you want to be like that."

The Cowboys won with what Harris called “a simple little play.” Tight end Jason Witten was the intended target, but Witten was covered, as was Dez Bryant. So it was Harris' day to play hero.

“It wasn’t nothing big,” he said. “It wasn’t nothing special about it. It was just a simple throw, me catching the ball, getting in the end zone.